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Zira
Zira is an adult lioness. She is the mother of Kovu, Nuka, and Vitani, and the leader of the Outsiders. Physical appearance Zira is an angular lioness with a thin and lanky build. It is unknown if this is her natural shape or else an effect of living in a near barren wasteland. Her fur is scruffy and of a dark tan coloration, with her underbelly, muzzle, and paws being grayish cream. She has a dark dorsal stripe that starts behind her ears and stops between her eyes. Her eyeshades are angular, the upper shade being dark grayish vermilion while the lower shade is a pale grayish-brown. Her eyes are deep orange. Zira's ear interiors are dark tangelo, and the strips that run along the top of them are a very deep reddish-brown. The ears themselves are scruffy at their tips, and one is notched. Her nose is angular and blackish-cerulean in color, and her permanently extended claws are an identical shade. Zira's teeth are noticeably more triangular than most other lionesses, and she is able to demonstrate the same wiry smile that Scar could. Personality From her first appearance to her final fall, Zira proves herself to be inseparable from her own evil intentions. If she has ever had a doubt about her own ruthless nature, it is never shown, as she is so determined to bring Simba down that she's willing to sacrifice her own children to the cause. Such a violent attitude manifests itself in the way Zira goes about her daily life as her claws are constantly unsheathed, and she treats her children harshly, teaching them to hate and kill as she knows so well how to do. Even when her entire pride abandons her, Zira has such faith in herself that she makes a final desperate stand against Simba. Her many years in the Outlands have made her sensitive to Simba's mention and considerably short-tempered. Even when dealing with her young children, barely more than cubs, she is prone to bouts of furious anger and raving, which reveals that even years of separation from Simba can do nothing to soften her grudges. If wrong is done to Zira, she will not rest until it is made right, making a lifelong enemy of Simba and an enemy of her own son when he accidentally lets Nuka die. With a grudge in mind, Zira can become obsessed, refusing to rest until justice is served, even if the time to strike takes many years of long waiting. As a leader, Zira is charismatic and manipulative, able to rally an entire pride to her side. She is also able to raise three brainwashed children who see no wrong in the constant death that surrounds them. Even when around her children, Zira does nothing to show them love, only softening once, when her son Nuka lies dying in her paw. As for Kovu and Vitani, her other children, Zira seems to care nothing for them, driving Kovu out of the pride and threatening to kill Vitani herself. Zira also holds a superiority complex, as she believes that her species dominates all others, especially hyenas. History The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Kovu becomes affectionate with Simba's daughter Kiara after the two cubs escape from crocodiles on the Outland borders. Simba and Zira clash over this, but the two leave without fighting. Zira plots to train Kovu so he can easily kill Simba at the right moment (the "My Lullaby" song scene). Years later, a young adult Kovu saves Kiara from a fire (of Nuka and Vitani's own making) so he could get closer to her and in turn, Simba. Then, when Simba was alone, Kovu would kill him. The plan starts well, but Kiara and Kovu fall in love, which causes Zira to plan an ambush on Simba and Kovu while the two lions are out walking. Simba falls into a gorge during the ensuing fight, but escapes via a log dam piled up against one end of the gorge. The logs fall and crush Nuka, killing him. Zira pauses to mourn her son's demise, but quickly takes out her anger on Kovu, giving him a scar identical to Scar's. Kovu, defiant for the first time, flees for the Pride Lands as Zira declares war on Simba. Zira rallies her lionesses and they travel to the Pride Lands for the final battle. At the battle's climax, Simba and Zira are about to fight each other when Kiara and Kovu intervene and stop the battle before it can begin, convincing the Outsiders and the Pridelanders that "they are one." Vitani is the first to realize this and switch sides. Zira threatens to kill Vitani if she doesn't come back, disgusting the other lionesses, who subsequently abandon her. Enraged, Zira charges at Simba, stating that "this is for you, Scar." Kiara leaps into Zira's path, causing Zira to knock Kiara and herself off the edge of a nearby cliff, sending them both tumbling into the gorge. Kiara lands safely on a ledge, but Zira slides off the edge and hangs precariously onto it. Kiara makes an attempt to rescue Zira, but Zira swipes at her, rejecting help. Zira, having rejected aid, slips and falls into the river below and drowns. The Lion Guard "Lions of the Outlands" Zira along with her children and pride, makes an appearance in the episode "Lions of the Outlands" (which takes place after the "My Lullaby" scene and before Zira sends Kovu to rescue Kiara from the fire). It is revealed by Rafiki that after Simba defeated Scar, Zira informed him that Scar had chosen Kovu to be the next King after him. However, Simba told her that Scar was never the true King, causing an outraged Zira to attack Simba. After defeating Zira, Simba was left with no choice but to banish her along with her children and the rest of Scar's followers. Zira and her pride have taken over a part of the Outlands where a waterhole is located and have driven out a hyena clan that lived there. One of the clan's members Jasiri comes to her friend Kion (who is Simba's son) for help. Confused as to why there are lions in the Outlands and unaware of the exile, Kion agrees to help. Kion comes to Jasiri's aid after she is attacked by Nuka and then meets Kovu, who after discovering that Kion is Simba's son and could convince the King to allow the Outsiders back into the Pride Lands, declares to Nuka that they have got to take the two to Zira. The two brothers take Kion and Jasiri to Zira (who is drinking from the waterhole with Vitani). After discovering that Kion is Simba's son and also the leader of the Lion Guard, has him use the Roar of the Elders on a rain cloud to make it rain (something Kion did not know he could do), before taking him away to talk privately. After failing to convince Kion to side with her over Jasiri, Zira has her lionesses surround him. She then reveals to him that she knew a lion who had the Roar of the Elders, but lost it after using it on his fellow lions. Kion realizes that the said lion is Scar, to which Zira replies that she and Scar were very close and if it weren't for Simba, Scar would still be King. When Kion says that Scar was never the true King, an offended Zira orders her lionesses to attack Kion, but changes her mind immediately and leaves Kion with her pride to fetch her children. After returning with her children, Zira tells them that Kion can't use the Roar on them as he will lose it like Scar did and if he doesn't use the Roar, he still loses thus leaving the Pride Lands defenceless. Luckily, the Lion Guard (who learnt about Zira from Rafiki) and Jasiri arrive to help Kion. After being told by Bungathat Scar had actually lost the Roar because he used it for evil rather against other lions, Kion uses the Roar to blast Zira and the Outsiders (except Kovu, who avoids the blast and runs after his pride) to termite mounts (similar to the ones seen in the first half of the second film). "Cave of Secrets" Zira is seen in a painting during the musical sequence, "Wisdom on the Walls". Trivia * It was originally planned for Zira to deliberately let go of the cliff rather than simply reject Kiara's help, but her fall was instead depicted as her simply slipping while rejecting Kiara's aid, as it was felt that the villain committing suicide was too 'adult' for a Disney movie. However, although this concept was cut, Zira's death in the finished version of the film is still implied to be a suicide, as if you look closely, you can see that she's smiling, albeit a little. * When Zira and Simba encounter each other onscreen for the first time, Zira's line "If you need your pound of flesh..." as she pushes Kovu forward is actually a reference to the Shakespearian play "The Merchant of Venice", even though "Simba's Pride" is based on "Romeo and Juliet". * During early production, the producers had originally named Zira "Bianca", but this was not "Swahillian" enough, and could easily be confused with Miss Bianca, in which her name was changed to Zira. * When Zira blames Kovu for the death of Nuka, her reasoning seems somewhat ironic for someone who had a high opinion of Scar. ** She told Kovu that he betrayed his pride, which is exactly what Scar did when he allowed the hyenasto invade. ** She also told him that he "killed his own brother", which, again, is exactly what Scar did. Also, Kovu hardly can be held accountable for this seeing as Nuka fell, and had nothing to do with him. ** This scene is vaguely similar to when Scar accused Simba of murdering his father. But while Scar was simply trying to discourage Simba, Zira truly believed what she said was true. * In early production, Zira was originally going to be Scar's mate and the mother of his cub Nunka (who would later become Kovu), who would seduce Aisha (Kiara's working name). Because this would be incest, due to Nunka and Aisha being second cousins, the relationship was obscured to make Zira 'just a follower' of Scar, and Nunka became Kovu and was instead Scar's adopted son. However, some fans of the film still consider Zira to be Scar's mate, and at least one novelization did explicitly refer to her as Scar's mate. * When Kovu's training is being reviewed, the notch in Zira's ear switches sideways to the other ear. * In some Lion King 2: Simba's Pride reading books, her eyes are mistakenly colored dark blue or dark green. * Kovu eventually will become the Pride Land's King, meaning Zira actually succeeded with her plan to fulfill Scar's dying wish, but not to avenge his death by killing Simba. * Zira's role as a follower to Scar contradicts the events of the first film, where all the lionesses present at the time were followers of Mufasa and Simba and had fought beside Simba against Scar. It was later revealed in The Lion Guard that she and Scar were very close and that he shared his knowledge of the Roar of the Elders with her, which perfectly supports the contradiction. It's possible she wasn't amongst the lionesses. * Zira, Sa'Luk, and Forte are the only Disney sequel villains to actually die. Jafar does not count because he originally appeared in the first film as its main antagonist. * Bette Midler and Helen Mirren were considered for the role of Zira before the late Suzanne Pleshette was cast. * Her name means "hatred" in Swahili. * She has no mark on her head in The Lion Guard, except in Rafiki's painting. Category:Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Mammals Category:Outlanders Category:Lions Category:Villains Category:Deceased characters Category:The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Characters